Moving Apps to SD Card in Marshmallow is Unbearable

[BrianVT]

Ok, this has bothered me ever since my Marshmallow update (Galaxy S5) and I finally need to get this off my chest and see if anyone has any suggestions. I did a few searches, and I see people talking about how it sucks that you can't move all apps at once and that everytime an app updates, it moves it back to the device - those frustrate the heck out of me as well. But, worse for me is when you go to the App Manager, the only views available are All apps, Enabled, or Turned Off. In the previous version of Android (whatever it was - KitKat, Lollipop, IDK), I could swipe my App Manager view over to "SD Card" and that would display all apps that are possible to go on SD Card, and then a little box that was either checked (currently on SD Card) or not checked (can be moved). That made it extremely easier than it is now when trying to figure out what needs to get moved and what can get moved, rather than having to click on every single freaking app. This is so frustrating, especially because of the fact that apps get moved to internal device upon update. Has anyone found any other ways to handle this?

I'll also add another frustration, which I'm not sure is true, or just and extreme and often coincidence for me- I swear that some apps say they need to be updated just because I moved them to the SD Card. I seem to have apps constantly requesting updates - ones that I'm almost certain I just updated in the last day or so - is this happening or is this just a conspiracy theory I seemed to have dreamed up? Like, right now, LinkedIn wants me to update it, and the update notes say the same thing it said two days ago when I updated it and then moved it to my SD Card. Seems like an attempt to just updated it again to get it on Internal memory. Of course, I can't even update it because I'm out of space! Back to problem number 1! Repeat, repeat, repeat, every day!

Anyone else have these problems and come up with a way to deal with them?

Thanks,
Brian

 

[anon(632115)]

There is really no way around this. It is primarily because of the way apps are compiled. SD cards are meant for media. They have a limited write rewrite life and would be very unreliable. SD cards are slow and insecure. Adoptive storage is just as much a problem.
Best solution is a phone with a large internal memory. I'm not a power user but my 64 gb edge is just fine for me

 

[BrianVT]

There is really no way around this. It is primarily because of the way apps are compiled. SD cards are meant for media. They have a limited write rewrite life and would be very unreliable. SD cards are slow and insecure. Adoptive storage is just as much a problem.
Best solution is a phone with a large internal memory. I'm not a power user but my 64 gb edge is just fine for me

Yes, I understand that much from reading the other posts, but my main question is: Why did they make the process of moving individual apps so much more difficult? They got rid of the "SD Card" view in the application manager, and now only list all apps at once with no indication of whether they're able to be moved, or whether they currently reside Internal or External until you click on each individual one and look at the settings. The old "SD Card" list with checked or unchecked boxes next to each app was incredibly easier and quicker to use.

I agree with the larger phone size. My next phone will definitely be maxed out on internal size. I currently have a 16gb phone w/ a 64gb SD card.

 

[anon(632115)]

I guess it was a Google decision to enforce that change and when it was made the sd card option was removed from App manager. I personally feel progress is going the wrong way. Samsung's latest devices are mainly 32gb and adoptive storage doesn't cure the apps on sd card problem

 

[RaggTagg]

This problem has annoyed me, too. I have to check every week or so to see which apps have been updated back to internal storage. Today was the first time I saw that I no longer could us the "SD" tab to readily see which apps I needed to move, so it seems to be a very recent change...probably when they changed to the more rounded look of the icons on the home screens, just a few days ago.

At least I don't get any messages saying that there is not enough room on the phone for system updates. I used to get those a lot...that's when I first started moving stuff over the the SD card. I guess they finally figured out how to update the system without requiring people to delete most of their apps first...you know, like every other tech company in the world!

 

[BrianVT]

This problem has annoyed me, too. I have to check every week or so to see which apps have been updated back to internal storage. Today was the first time I saw that I no longer could us the "SD" tab to readily see which apps I needed to move, so it seems to be a very recent change...probably when they changed to the more rounded look of the icons on the home screens, just a few days ago.

At least I don't get any messages saying that there is not enough room on the phone for system updates. I used to get those a lot...that's when I first started moving stuff over the the SD card. I guess they finally figured out how to update the system without requiring people to delete most of their apps first...you know, like every other tech company in the world!

No, it's been this way since Marshmallow started - months of this for me. It's been painful

 

[RaggTagg]

Maybe AT&T or Samsung just updated to Marshmallow in the past week, 'cause that's when things changed for me. I have a Galaxy S5 with AT&T, Android Version 6.0.1. There was system update just last week and after it the icons on the home screens look different; rounded corners and such. Also, in Applications Manager I see apps that were not there before; Knox, RCPComponents, SIM Toolkit, etc. It may be my imagination, but the phone seems a wee bit more sluggish now.

 

[BrianVT]

Yea, I'm with Verizon and got the 6.0.1 update that changed the icons as well. My phone is pretty slow also. However, I was dealing with the changed app manager well before that. IDK, maybe you just didn't have a need to look at that area in a while. I'm surprised I don't find much when I search for that topic, though, unless I'm just not searching for the right words. I would think a lot of people find this painful to deal with. If I could change one aspect of my phone right now, it would be that - go back to the old SD Card view with the checked boxes next to apps in app manager.

 

[Ajlee777]

To minimize the pain, I use AppMgr III. This app gives me a list of movable apps and can notify me if new installed apps can be moved to SD.

 

[BrianVT]

To minimize the pain, I use AppMgr III. This app gives me a list of movable apps and can notify me if new installed apps can be moved to SD.

Thanks for the suggestion. That does help some. I also like how it tells you what features you'll lose by moving it to SD Card.

 

[anon(632115)]

To minimize the pain, I use AppMgr III. This app gives me a list of movable apps and can notify me if new installed apps can be moved to SD.

In Marshmallow no apps are moveable, that is the point of the thread

 

[BrianVT]

In Marshmallow no apps are moveable, that is the point of the thread

LOL, that is not true. I am the OP, so let me summarize again. Some apps are indeed moveable in Marshmallow, just like they were prior to Marshmallow. To move them, you must go to the application manager, click on an individual app (from the entire long list of apps), click on "Internal Storage," then you'll see whether it's available to move because it will have the option to do so.

Problem Statement: Prior to Marshmallow, the above process was much easier because you could view a list of "SD Card" apps, which displays only those apps that are moveable and also provided a check box next to each one showing whether they were currently on the SD Card or not. Marshmallow dropped that feature, making moving the apps much less intuitive, but you can still move them, no doubt.

 

[anon(632115)]

Are these apps that were already on the device prior to MM or installed afterwards? Also, in MM, how are you moving apps to SD card?

 

[BrianVT]

Are these apps that were already on the device prior to MM or installed afterwards?

Both - I don't think that matters. Go down through each app's settings on your phone in the application manager. You are sure to find one that can be moved. You'll then understand the problem/pain I'm discussing after going through that process.

 

[anon(632115)]

My phone S6 Edge doesn't use SD cards. I got fed up of them failing and have 64GB model which is enough for me.

 

[BrianVT]

My phone S6 Edge doesn't use SD cards. I got fed up of them failing and have 64GB model which is enough for me.

Gotcha - Yea, I'm sticking with my waterproof phone for as long as possible. I can't understand our current culture of buying a new $700 "pocket computer" every two years, when we don't replace our actual home computers that often. I just bought a new $650 laptop to replace the one I had for eight years. No way I need a new "pocket computer" - subsidized by a big service provider.

But, back to the subject - I guess that's why they made some of the software changes to match the hardware changes, although I think the S7 now has SD Card again (and is waterproof again) (yes, I know, water resistant). I'll probably lay low until the s8 or s9 - and complain about moving apps to SD Cards until then